Genre
historical fiction
Setting and Context
set in the Dominican Republic in the time of Trujillo's dictatorship
Narrator and Point of View
Narrator: Anita
Point of view: first person
Tone and Mood
Nightmarish, tense
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist: Anita; Antagonist: the dictator El Jefe, Trujillo
Major Conflict
Anita, a young girl, suddenly experiences her life being turned upside down as the tensions in the Dominican Republic rise, because of the resistance against the dictator, at the center of which is her uncle Toni, who was forced to escape into hiding.
Climax
Anita and her mother are hiding in the home of their cousins, waiting for news about her father and uncle who were taken prisoner by the dictator's son, before they finally get a chance to escape to the US.
Foreshadowing
The appearance of the black moth in the compound is a foreshadowing of tragic things to come, Anita comments on it being an omen of death.
Understatement
"My parents seem to be playing their own kind of Secret Santa game."
-Anita listening into her parent's conversations over the phone, conversations that have to do with the assassination of the dictator.
Allusions
"If only I could be Joan of Arc, cut off my hair and dress like a boy, just to be on the safe side."
-Anita
Imagery
The imagery of butterflies as representation of hope, courage, resistance and freedom is present throughout the novel.
Paradox
"Sometimes, I think of my own silence that way: voicing a silent protest."
-Anita
Parallelism
"I don't feel like a señorita. I feel more like a baby in wet diapers. And I don't want to be a señorita now that I know what El Jefe does to señoritas."
Metonymy and Synecdoche
"I feel just like a hand-me-down human being."-Anita about every part of her being compared to someone in the family.
Personification
N/A
